999 II: Zero,1
by Draconic
Summary: Another Nonary game has been staged. Junpei, Akane, Aoi, Light, Clover, and four newcomers find themselves in an old mansion, held hostage by someone known only as Zero.1. But there are much more sinister things lurking in this mansion than a kidnapper. On a three year hiatus. Will be resumed in 2015.
1. The Cell

**This story contains spoilers for the True Ending and possibly other endings of the game **_**999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors**_**. If you haven't finished playing or watching both the Safe Ending and the True Ending of **_**999**_**, do not read this fic. If you haven't played or watched them though, I would recommend that you do so immediately because this game happens to be fantastic.**

**Hello again. I first learned about **_**999**_** from a Nintendo Power article, but I forgot about it soon afterwards. Thank heavens someone reminded me because that game is fantastic. But, I was disappointed with the ending. No tearful reunion with Akane, no apologies from either her or Aoi (Santa)… And to make things worse, the creator, Word Of God, has said in an interview that Junpei just spends the rest of his life trying to find Akane but never catches up to her! I think I speak for many when I say that that just ruins my day… so, I'm rewriting the canon, and although there's a possibility of a sequel already, I'm going to write my own version of that sequel. (For reference, the title is pronounced Nine, Nine, Nine Two: Zero Point One). It's not likely to have the kind of detail or depth as the game, but I'm hoping that it'll do the trick for those of us who want to find out what happens next. So I thought; what better way to reunite Junpei and Akane than putting them in another life-or-death situation… That'd work really well, but I couldn't think of any good setting. And that's when this came to me… I hope I do this game justice, though I probably won't… But I'm blathering:**

**Once again, everyone read this carefully, 'cause I'm gonna say this again: I do not own **_**999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors**_**. It is property of Nintendo and Aksys.**

**Also, I feel compelled to warn you that I may end up not finishing this story, although I really hope I do finish it. Here's hoping and hopping that I retain the motivation required to complete this fic. Anyway, I'll stop wasting your time: On with the story:**

_**999 II:**_

_**Zero.1**_

**Chapter 1: The Cell**

Junpei woke with a start, coughing up dust from the grit that had fallen from the ceiling. His head hurt terribly and he was feeling extremely dizzy.

"Well…must've been some helluva party last night…"

He put his arms out to steady himself, and was surprised and somewhat alarmed to find that he was lying on a stone block instead of his bed.

"Huh? Did I fall asleep in an alley or something?"

The smooth texture of the block and the fact that he could not see the sky suggested that, no, he did not.

He was wearing the same clothes as he had been yesterday from the feel of it, a green sweater with black stripes going down the arms and a pair of faded dark blue jeans.

"Okay, so what happ—" He stopped in mid-sentence: He _knew_ what happened;

Everything from the last night had come back to him in a flash.

_He got home around midnight. It was dark in his apartment, as he hadn't bothered to turn the lights on when he'd left that morning, even though he knew he'd be home late. Crickets chirped outside his window and he yawned. He was about to go to his bedroom when he saw it: The window was open. He didn't remember leaving it open that morning, and it would have been unsafe anyway because he was going out for so long after his classes ended. He went over to the window to close it._

_ "Waitamunite…" he said suspiciously. He knew this routine, and would sooner have God drop holy dead frogs on him every morning for the rest of his life before he would fall for it again. Junpei listened carefully for the hiss of escaping gas or the shuffling of clothing. He held his head out the window and took a deep breath, held it, and started stalking the perimeter of his living room. Finding nothing at first, he took another deep breath at the window. That was when he heard something shuffling behind him from the direction of the closet across the room. He dashed to the closet hoping to catch his housebreaker before they caught him, but in the end he found nothing; the closet was as empty as it was when he left that morning. Still, he needed to be sure. He turned on the closet light and stuck his head inside. The shuffling sound came again, this time from directly behind him. He didn't even have time to spin around and get a look at his attacker before he was dealt a blow to the head with something that felt like a club. His last thought before being out cold was a frustrated scream heard only within his own head: _

'_God-_DAMNIT!'

"Oh no…where am I this time?" Junpei asked himself; not that there would be anything else in the room to hear him.

At least he didn't think there was. It was too dark for him to even see his hand in front of his face.

He looked at his left wrist to check for a Nonary Watch, not finding anything. He did however feel something around his right wrist.

"And there we go," he said, looking at the LCD display on the band that wrapped around his right wrist, "5 again? Go figure. Why is it on my right hand though?"

He pondered this for a moment, and upon not reaching an answer, he continued thinking aloud.

"Did I swallow a bomb in my sleep too?" he continued wistfully; "Duh, life just isn't simple enough for me to go a year without having explosives shoved down my throat,"

Just to be sure that he couldn't in, fact, get the thing off, he turned his wrist over. No such luck. It was clasped around his hand, no buckle just an automatic release function that would respond to certain requirements that he assumed he already knew: That he either got outside or his heart rate reach zero, an impossible task he knew unless he were Edgar Allan Poe.

He lay back down for a moment, carefully lowering himself down onto the slab of rock he was lying on. That done, he rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. It was at that moment that he fully woke up, and the frustration of having been kidnapped hit him in full.

For Christsakes, it had only been …nine months actually now that he thought about it… since the first time.

"Only nine months! The _HELL!_" he hissed to the dark room. His eyes still hadn't adjusted and were certainly taking their sweet time to do so.

Staring straight up at where he assumed the ceiling would be, he slammed his left fist down onto the stone bed only to find that it hit something soft and rather yielding to his touch. It was slightly elevated from the rest of the rocky platform that he was laying on as well. Still looking up at the ceiling, he ran his hand over it. Trying to figure out what it could be. He certainly wouldn't get anywhere by trying to look at it, and the light from his 'watch's' LCD display was too dim for it to be of any use. Not to mention it was on his other hand.

He continued to run his hand over it, kneading it slightly before, to his horror, whatever it was he was touching moved. Not moments later he heard a high-pitched scream felt a rush of air pass by his head as something took a swipe at him.

He stiffened, a chill running up his spine. His eyes were finally getting used to the dark and he tried to sit up while keeping his left hand firmly in place on the…whatever it was…

To his shock, he heard a whimper of discomfort from beside him. And then he discovered what he had been trying to distinguish in the dark:

"Okay, I know someone's in here with me," said a girl's voice, clearly unnerved, "I don't know who it is, but can you _please stop groping me!_"

Junpei's mouth hung open as another numbered watch came into view on his left. He'd been feeling up some girl that he'd never met! This was going to be awkward as hell! As if sensing the growing tension in the room, the lights chose that moment to come back on, blinding Junpei–and presumably the girl he was in the room with–and getting yelps of discomfort from both parties as they felt their eyes burn.

He heard a gasp as he slowly removed his hands from his eyes in an attempt to ease his eyes into adjusting. An oddly difficult task due to the fact that the lights seemed to be flickering.

"J-Jumpy!"

His eyes shot open, his hands falling to his sides. He ignored the fact that he could swear he heard screaming coming from his retinas. Looking back at him was none other than Akane Kuroshiki; the girl he'd been wondering about for the past nine months after they escaped from Building Q.

And then a realization hit him with the force of a wreaking ball: The girl he'd unknowingly been molesting had been Akane.

"AAARRRGGGHHH!" he howled, "You _stupid! Moronic! Dumbass!_" he berated himself.

"Jumpy, are you okay?" Akane asked, sounding genuinely concerned—he hoped she was. He knew from recent experience that she was a really good actor. And with that thought, something else struck him: Seeing Akane here, both of them wearing Nonary Game 'watches.' Something wasn't right here. This couldn't be a coincidence…

"Yeah, fine, just realized I groped someone important to me, that's all…"

Akane giggled awkwardly, a blush spreading to her cheeks. Junpei didn't give her enough time to dwell on what he'd just said though; he had to voice his suspicions.

"Akane," he began seriously, "Were you the one that kidnapped me?"

"W-What! Of c-course not!"

"Was it Santa? Aoi…I mean."

"No! I d-don't even know w-what _I'm_ doing he-ere!"

"You understand why I'm suspicious right?"

"Y-Yes! And you're completely justified, b-but I swear, I'm-m not responsible for this!"

"You're sure?"

"Yes!"

"_Positive?_"

"YES!"

…

"Okay. Now we can talk."

Akane breathed a shuddering sigh of relief. For a possible or even former mastermind, she wasn't very composed. It made him wonder if her innocent behavior inside Building Q was entirely an act.

There was an awkward silence before she spoke again.

"I don't even know how I got here…"

"What's the last thing you remember before waking up?"

"I was trying to sleep in my brother's van. We don't…actually live anywhere, so we just use the van. I heard the door open, and I thought it was Aoi, but then I saw white smoke and heard the door close, and I passed out. I'm sure it was Soporil gas, but…who would be using it?"

"Maybe…" Junpei thought aloud, "It could be a devoted employee of Cradle Pharmaceutical, trying to get revenge for getting his or her boss thrown in jail."

"That's possible."

"The question is…where exactly _are_ we?"

"Well, we both have these watches, so there's really only one place where we could be; Building Q."

"Look around you, do we look like we're on an ocean liner?"

"Um…" Akane stammered. She took in her surroundings for the first time since the room lit up. The sources that their only light was coming from were a few burning torches that were hung on the walls of the room. As Junpei had suspected the 'bed' really _was_ made out of stone, more of a stone slab than a bed really. There was a small bathroom stall that offered little privacy and a sink with a small mirror above it on the other side. Beneath the pipes of the sink was a hole about the size of a small rodent. Whatever mouse had been here must have had some really strong teeth to gnaw through the wall though because the whole room appeared to be made from stone blocks.

"We look more like we're in some sort of cell…" said Akane.

"I think you may have missed something."

"Why would you say that?"

"You weren't startled by anything when you looked around the room. Look over there," Junpei pointed towards the part of the room behind them. As he suspected, Akane gasped at what she saw. There was a cast-iron door with a reddish-brown 11 painted upon it. One corner of the room was draped in shadows and impossible to see into. Junpei got up and slowly walked over to the door. As he examined the door, he found that something smelled somewhat odd. Almost metallic in fact. He rubbed his hand over the door, and the disturbing realization dawned on him as he felt the texture of the first '1': "This isn't paint," he hissed, his voice shaking, "This is _dried blood_!"

Akane gasped sharply and put a hand over her mouth. Her eyes were wide. Meanwhile Junpei had noticed that there appeared to be a card reader that was reminiscent of the one he first encountered in his cell in Building Q. There was a small red light on it. There was nothing he had to lose, so he decided to try the handle. It was locked.

"Oh my god," he said, deadpan, "We're locked in. I'm surprised and terrified," he sighed, "Well, if this really _is_ a Nonary Game then we'd better…uh…take our first turn I guess," he said, "Let's look around and…well, as _you_ put it, 'seek an exit'."

"Okay, I'll check out that dark corner, you check the washroom area." Akane clasped her hands together, and started taking her scarf off. Junpei hadn't yet noticed what she was wearing, but she was looking extremely pretty even in the somewhat well worn clothes that she had on. She had on a blue skirt that went down to just above her knees and a comfortable-looking fitted top with bell-shaped sleeves, and a color to match her skirt. The scarf that she had just taken off she was wrapping around her right hand, and had come off to expose how well the top accented her curves, as well as revealing a tastefully modest amount of midriff. He felt his ears start to burn as he realized that he had touched that midriff without knowing it not ten minutes prior. Then he noticed that she had turned to face him and was also blushing. That stone tile on the wall behind him was just _fascinating_ wasn't it? He simply _had_ to get a closer look at it and not take his eyes off of it for at least five minutes! Nothing in the world could possibly be as utterly enthralling as this particular square-shaped piece of rock that looked just like hundreds of other square-shaped pieces of rock that framed the room.

Akane meanwhile had taken a torch off a wall using her scarf to cover her hand. Junpei had barely gotten around to looking at the bathroom stall before he heard Akane scream, scaring him out of his wits. "What's wrong? What happe—" He stopped short. He'd looked across the room to where she was standing. She had dropped the torch, and from what illumination it provided he was able to see what had terrified her. He himself was having some difficulty keeping his gorge down at the sight: In the previously hidden part of the room stood the skeletal remains of a human being. It was not slouched over in the posture of the dead; rather, it really _was_ standing up. As though it were… _alive_. The thought made his skin crawl. The tattered clothes it was wearing covered little of the remains. The bones had been picked clean by scavengers. Likely rats judging from the hole he had seen in the wall.

The brunette inhaled sharply before shuddering and moving a trembling hand towards the dry corpse. "Ugh," she shuddered again, "I guess we know whose blood that is on the door. At least he'd be my guess," she said, pointing at the bones before reaching slowly into a frayed pocket.

"Anything in there?" Junpei asked.

His companion hesitated for a moment before moving her hands around the body's thighs. She sighed in disappointment.

"No. Nothing in any of his pockets," she said. She smiled back at him. "Well, nothing to be afraid of anymore," she surprised him by grabbing the skeleton by its shoulders and scattering it across the floor in the other corner of the room. The lower jaw snapped off, and they both grinned at a glint of light they saw coming from the jaw's pallet. Akane ran up to it and reached the shiny object first. There was the sound of tape being torn off and;

"It's a key, Jumpy. Have you seen anything that might need a key?"

"Not yet, but you've done a lot more than I have already. I'll just, uh, get to work I guess."

"Okay. Let me know if you find anything."

"Yeah."

Junpei looked at the toilet and then at the sink. Something glinted in the mirror and he walked up to the source, pulling a shiny object taped to the mirror off.

"A yellow key?" he mumbled to himself, "Hey Akane, what color was the key you just pulled out of that guy's mouth?"

"Red. Why?"

"Because, I just found a yellow one."

"Hmm. Then it stands to reason that the next one we find should be blue. Primary colors and all that, you know?"

"Yeah, that makes sense. Now blue key where would you be hidden so that I couldn't find you?"

Junpei looked over at the toilet. There was no lid. Just a seat, a bowl and a tank. He looked inside the bowl. There was no water. It looked clean enough though. He didn't want to touch the sides to find out how clean they actually were, but he decided to lower his head into the bowl to see if there was anything slightly down the drain. Nothing.

"Uh, Jumpy, what are you doing with your head in the toilet?"

…

Junpei wracked his brain for a witty response. Finding nothing, he lifted his head up.

"…I—I'm sorry, Akane. I just haven't got an answer for you. I'm…I'm actually kind of ashamed…"

"I don't really see why…I don't think I want to know why actually. No offense, just… going on the present circumstances."

"Yeah. I'll just check the tank."

He got up and lifted the tank lid off. He grinned. He pulled a white briefcase out It had three keyholes in it.

"Haha! I found something that we need!" he shouted triumphantly. "Huh? What's this on the back?" Junpei turned the briefcase over to find a wrench taped to the back.

"What am I supposed to do with a wrench?" he asked himself.

"Nuts, I can't think of anything," Junpei replied.

"Well, maybe you should bolt over here and see if you can find something," he continued. Akane rolled her eyes, but she snickered behind her hand. It was barely audible, but still: _'Score!'_ thought Junpei.

"Jumpy, why don't we just use that wrench on the pipes under the sink?"

"Good plan!" he dropped the briefcase on the stone table and hopped back over to the sink, crouching underneath it. He took a look at he pipes, quickly finding the nut shaped fixture and took twist with the wrench. He made another turn, and then another, and another, until finally the two pieces separated. He dropped the wrench and felt around in the pipes.

'_Hooray! He thought to himself, dirty black lead flakes! Just what I've always wanted!'_

"Nothing in there…he groaned in disappointment."

"I'm not sure. Did you try running the water?"

"…No, I guess not. Let's try flushing something out."

He twisted the knob on the sink. Surprisingly enough, the water actually ran. And moments later, there was a clinking noise on the floor at his feet. He turned the water off to find a white key on the floor.

"White?" said Akane, "I thought it'd be blue. Well, let's try these keys out."

"Agreed!"

They put the yellow key into the first keyhole. It fit in the slot, but when they tried giving it a twist it wouldn't move.

"That's annoying, it fits but doesn't turn!" snorted Junpei.

"Don't worry, we still have two more keys left."

They tried the red key. Once again, it fit. However, this time it actually turned.

"Yes!" shouted Junpei, "Yellow key, you're up again." He inserted the yellow key into the second keyhole. It fit, and it turned.

"Haha!" Junpei pumped his fist in the air as he took out the white key. He put it into the last keyhole…or at least he _tried_ to.

"What gives? It doesn't even fit!"

"Maybe there really is another key," suggested Akane.

"Well, we better start looking then."

The two of them searched the room from top to bottom. Junpei started by using the wrench to disconnect the pipes on the toilet. Finding nothing, he started seeing if anything in the room was loose, an endeavor resulting in the mirror over the sink to fall over and break cleanly in half over his head. Akane tried examining the skeleton further, but this course of action brought them nowhere closer to opening the briefcase. Junpei was beginning to get frustrated when he noticed an odd shadow being projected on the wall behind one of the torches. He slowly approached the torch and snatched it off the wall. He examined the torch from all angles. "Well, this hasn't been very enlightening," he thought aloud. And then he noticed the shadow from earlier. It was being projected on the ceiling this time. His eyes went wide and a triumphant grin spread itself around his face. He'd figured out where the third key was hidden: Without a second thought he turned the torch upside-down over the sink. He was rewarded by the clink of metal against the ceramic surface of the sink.

"Found it!" he announced, getting Akane's immediate attention.

He ran some cold water over the blue key that had been inside the torch, steam erupting from the hot metal. He almost panicked when he saw it get washed down the drain before remembering that the only place for the water to go from there was the floor at his feet. He picked up the key and jammed it into the third keyhole on the briefcase. It fit, and it turned. There was a snap as he heard the briefcase unlock. Inside were a calculator, a pen, and a notepad, similar to the ones that he'd gotten the last time he'd been in this situation. There was also a small white box with a keyhole on it.

"Do you think…" Akane began.

"No doubt about it, that white key goes in this box."

He dug the white key out of his pocket, placed it into the box's keyhole and gave it a twist. The box's lid popped open revealing six numbered keycards, ranging from 3 to 8.

"I'll give you three guesses as to where these go," Junpei said turning to face Akane.

"So… I'm guessing that this door's number is '11' because that's the sum of out numbers," she started slowly, "but because '11' can't be a digital root maybe we have to get a digital root of 2 from 11? "

"That makes sense."

"Okay! _So_, Mr. Card Reader, how are you doing today?" Akane said taking out the '5' and '6' cards.

The device's nondescript red light stared back at her.

"So, if I'm right, it should be '5' and '6'."

[5 + 6 = 11, 1 + 1 = 2]

She swiped them through the card reader and pulled the lever. There was a buzzing noise and the red light on the device continued to stare back at the two cellmates.

"Let's try a different combination maybe? It probably has to be three digits."

Junpei thought for a moment, going through a few possibilities in his head. He realized that no combination of three numbers could add up to 11. The lowest cards they had were 3, 4, and 5.

[3 + 4 + 5 = 12]

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here, but I think it's the best shot we have," stated Junpei, "Could you hand me the cards please."

Akane did so without hesitation. Junpei immediately picked out the '5', '7', and '8'.

[5 + 7 + 8 = 20, 2 + 0 = 2]

He slid each of the three cards through the reader. It wasn't 11, but it was still a 2. He pulled the lever, and…

A beeping sound came from the device and the red light changed to blue.

"I think that's our ticket out of here," he said a grin.

He grabbed the handle and tried turning it. Sure enough, it moved without resistance. He swung the door open and they exited into a long torch-lit hallway. They walked for a few minutes before coming to another door. It was a regular wooden door with a brass knob. He gave it a turn, and pushed it open.

They could barely believe what they saw on the other side.


	2. The Ballroom and Central Staircase

**Edit: I filled in the swears, and I also remembered something about Iaret that needed to be corrected. Can any of you guess who she is? Because I may have given her a name, but she is anything but an OC. The only OC In this story is Zero.1, and that is actually still up for debate.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: The Ballroom and Central Staircase<p>

The room beyond the door was utterly massive compared to the confined space of the cell they had been locked in. At one end of the hall was a giant staircase reminiscent of the one Junpei remembered from Building Q. It was brightly lit with electrical chandeliers instead of the torches they had seen so much of already. The floor looked to be white marble except for the large wooden dance floor set in the center of the room. The walls reminded Junpei of a fancy mansion built in the early Nineteenth Century, with decorative wooden panels going halfway up the painted blue walls. The ceiling had a sky design on it, painted a soft blue and complete with clouds. Odd pieces of furniture dotted the room. A fancy couch here, a soft-looking chair somewhere else. They had barely taken any of this in when they heard the voices:

"Look! Those must be the first doors," came a distinctly female voice. It was familiar, though he was sure he'd never heard it before.

"Would you be so kind as to tell me what numbers they are?" Junpei recognized this new male voice for sure, he knew exactly whom it belonged to, as he suspected, did Akane.

"Two, three and four," the familiar voice replied.

He gave Akane a look, giving a few quick glances towards the staircase. Akane nodded and they both ran off towards the stairs. Climbing quickly they found themselves in another hall similar to the one below, except that this one was covered from wall to wall with a thin green rug. There was still a wooden dance floor in the center of the room. Unlike the one below it, this hall had windows, spectacularly large bay windows at that. For some reason he couldn't see outside, despite the fact that soft moonlight appeared to be drifting in though them. There was an old gramophone sitting on an end table on the other side of the hall. Junpei couldn't tell if there was a record in it from his position on the opposite end of the room. There was another staircase; identical to the one they had just come up from, close by. There weren't any people here so they both decided to keep climbing. Once again the hall was nearly identical. There was no dance floor on this level however, and the thin green carpet simply stretched from wall to wall with no interruptions. That wasn't what they noticed about this area though; what they noticed were the five people standing at the far wall — facing a trio of doors emblazoned with numbers. They hadn't noticed Junpei and Akane yet.

One of them was dressed in a very noble looking outfit. He had very light brown hair, and was wearing a princely red coat, complete with tails. His white pants were elegant and had a red stripe on the outside of each leg.

Standing next to him was a girl with unmistakable pink hair, done up in ponytails on either side of her head. She had on a white blouse lined with pink fur, a white dress, and her boots were white and also had a furry pink lining. Junpei had no doubt as to whom these two people were: The boy was named Light, and the girl, his younger sister, was named Clover.

The next person to speak was a girl. Junpei recognized her voice as the one from earlier.

"So, do we have to verify?"

This girl was wearing a revealing blue belly dancer's outfit and wore some extremely expensive-looking jewelry. She had long black hair tied up into a ponytail. She reminded Junpeie very much of Lotus, except while she was in her mid-forties, this girl looked to be in her early twenties.

"Are you for real?" griped the pink haired girl, "Of course we're going to have to verify! No way for whoever's watching us to have fun without the prospect of some of us being turned inside out."

"Hey!" shouted another girl off to the side, "Don't talk to my sister like that you bitchy little shit!" her face was similar to that of the dancer-girl's. She was a bit more covered up and had her lair let down. For the sister of a belly dancer, she was a lot more…reserved, wearing beige cargo pants and a thick black sweater.

"You listen here," said the prince, his voice a harsh growl, "If I ever hear you talk to _my_ sister like that again, you'll be wearing a reminder of it on your face! For days! You don't have to believe me, of course," he continued in his usual calm tone, "But I wouldn't suggest that you push your luck. I may be blind but I know exactly where you are, and could easily beat you senseless should a fight break out. He turned to face her just to emphasize his point.

"Uh, can we just maybe calm down?" pleaded the fifth person in the group. That was when a new voice interrupted.

"Hey everyone, there's an open door on the bottom floor, but it looks like it just goes to another one of those holding-cell halls. If anyone came out of it I don't know where they w— Akane!" A boy about Junpei's age, maybe a bit older ran up to them and threw his arms around Akane. He was about to pull the intruder off when he noticed something: The silver hair, ratty tank top, chains and black cloth ribbons gave it away.

"Santa!"

"_Saywhatnow_—" shot 'Santa'. He hesitated slightly as he remembered his code name, "…Oh… Yeah… could you just call me Aoi? I don't feel like using codes right now."

By now, everyone was looking in their direction but Aoi didn't seem to notice the extra attention.

"I'm really glad you're safe Akane. Not so glad that you're here in this situation, but at least I know where you are now. So what are you doing with ol' whatshisname here…uhhhh…I know this…starts with a 'J'… Juniper…or something like that." Akane giggled. Junpei's left eye twitched and a vein pulsed in his forehead.

"I'm afraid you're somewhat mistaken Aoi," it was Light, although nine months ago Junpei had mostly known him by the code name 'Snake', "Points for getting the first three letters correct, but you mixed up the second half. It's good to meet you again Junpei."

"Well, I guess I'm glad _someone_ remembered my name," he muttered, "Juniper isn't even a boy's name in the first place! In fact, I don't even think it _is_ a name at all."

"Uh, to answer your question Aoi, Jumpy and I woke up in the same room. I think we both were fumbling around in the dark until he…accidentally groped me…" she would have blushed from embarrassment at the thought had Aoi given her time to do so. However this was not the case. He had instead jumped in front of Junpei and kneed him in the groin, getting a high-pitched squeal out of his sudden victim. Junpei had barely fallen over before Aoi grabbed him with his right hand, lifting him off the ground by the collar of his shirt.

"Accidentally, huh?" he hissed. His voice was soft, but that had only made him even more terrifying, Junpei's mind, having recovered from the underhanded strike, was racing, he tried making eye contact with anyone else, hoping to make a silent plea for help. He failed to do either.

"She cute enough for ya?" Aoi's voice had gone from a hiss to a snarl, and the others were slowly stepping backwards from the two of them. "You perverted _fucker!_" He pulled his free arm back.

"Aoi! _No!_"

Someone had grabbed his arm before he could let the punch fly.

"Akane…" Junpei was surprised to find that he was not the only one saying her name, though for a different reason entirely.

"Please, don't hurt Jumpy…" she whispered.

Aoi's face, a monstrous visage contorted by rage, slowly began to soften and Junpei was relieved to find himself hesitantly being lowered back to the floor. Aoi huffed in frustration as Akane tried explaining the incident to him. Eventually she stopped talking. There was a long and uncomfortable silence. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Everything was still.

That was when it happened.

With a crackle, an unseen speaker came to life, a voice coming from thin air.

"Welcome, honored guests…" it spoke slowly, the voice deep and distorted—obviously disguised by a voice changer. Searching for the source of the voice wasn't particularly difficult. The dancer's sister had quickly pointed to a wall-mounted speaker to the right of the three large double doors across from the landing, and they all rushed over to it. The voice spoke again:

"I graciously welcome you to my mansion."  
>"Hey!" Aoi shouted at the speaker, "Who the fuck do you think you are? You want to talk to us? Grow a pair and do it in person!"<p>

The voice continued speaking, seeming to ignore Aoi's tirade:

"I am the one who invited you here: I am Zero Point One. You may call me Zero."

"Why did you bring us here!" the dancer demanded. She was graced with an answer.

"I have brought you here to play a game: You should all be familiar with this game, most of you having played it at least once before: A Nonary Game."

'Tell us something we don't know,' thought Junpei, 'Irremovable watches and numbered doors; what else could it be?"

"I shall give you a short summary of the rules," Zero continued, "In this game you will be faced with situations that may put your life at risk. To win, you must overcome these obstacles, you will never reach these obstacles however without going through a numbered door. Only three to five people may enter a numbered door at a time, and to enter a numbered door, the numbers of the people going through it must be a digital root equal to the door's number."

Everyone turned towards the three double doors. The closest one was emblazoned with the number 4, followed by 3, and then 2.

"From what I know of the previous Nonary Game, only four of its players actually had bombs in their stomachs. I assure you that this technicality has been corrected for this game. I shall remind you that the only thing that will trigger the bombs' countdowns to start is by passing through a numbered door; if everyone who verified with the Recognition Device, or 'RED' to open the door does not also verify with the Deactivation Device, or 'DEAD', within eighty one seconds of passing through the door, your life, or lives, will end…rather messily."

It almost sounded as though the distorted voice found some sort of sick humor in this. Such thoughts frightened Junpei and he tried not to dwell on them.

"Just to clarify the matter, verification is achieved through placing one's palm on the face of the RED and DEAD. The watch is your detonator, and whenever it senses that you have passed through a numbered door, it will begin the countdown. Also, if you try to remove it forcibly it will also trigger the bomb inside you to explode immediately. As with all Nonary Games, you will be given nine hours to escape this building. After nine hours this mansion will collapse, leaving anyone inside trapped in the rubble. That is all the information I can give you. I wish you all the best of luck."

The speaker shut off and the room was silent once again.

"Okay, what are we doing? Stop standing around and let's get organized damnit!" It was Aoi, impatient as usual, "We need to know each others' names for one thing. We won't get very far if we can't communicate easily. Trust me, if any of my past experiences with these twisted games, Whoever Zero Point One is knows exactly who we are anyway, so it's okay to use our real names.

Junpei was a bit shocked that it was Aoi doing the mediating. After all, he himself had gotten everyone together last time, _'__so__don__'__t__let__him__hog__the__spotlight!__'_ a part of Junpei thought. "Aoi's right," he spoke up, "Let's get some names here. I'll start; I'm Junpei…I would appreciate if you called me that and not…anything else," he shot an unimpressed look at Aoi, "and this is my second time being put through a Nonary Game. My number is '5', and I'm going to write this down so that everyone knows everyone else's number. Who's next?"

Aoi was the second to speak.

"Hey, my name's Aoi, don't wear it out. My number's '3', and this is my third time dealing with this Nonary shit. Akane over there is my little sister."

Akane decided that she had to be the next to speak.

"Hello," she said a bit uncomfortably, "M-My name is Akane…I-I-I'm number '6'. Aoi's my older brother, and I've played the Nonary Game t-twice a-already s-so this'd be my third time too. Actually, I was k-kind o-of the host of the second time, but I don't want to have to explain all the reasons behind having to do that. I understand if you d-don't trust me because of this.

Noticing the three dirty looks being directed at her as she said this, Junpei decided to speak up for her.

"Don't worry, she had a very good reason for hosting that game. Me, Aoi, Light and Clover can all vouch for her," there were four nods from the mentioned people as he said this.

Akane blushed fiercely but still smiled at them, "Thanks, a-all of you. I-I don't deserve this though."

"Don't be so hard on yourself Akane," said Aoi calmly, "you'll end up hurting yourself."

She smiled again, still blushing, but not particularly uncomfortable anymore.

The princely young man took the opportunity to cut in here, "I'd like to let everyone here know that my name is Light. Clover here is my younger sister. This is also my third time playing this game. Just to make sure that everyone knows, I happen to be blind, but do not let yourselves think that I'm at any sort of disadvantage because of this. I'll get along just fine as long as I can hear. My number is '2'. Go ahead, Clover."

The pink haired girl stepped forward from her brother's side, "I'm Clover. Light's my big brother, and this is my third time doing this too… Oh yeah! I'm number '4'."

There was momentary silence before someone else spoke: it was the Dancer.

"Hi, I'm Nona. This is the second time I'm being put through a Nonary Game. My sister here's Ennea. I'm number '8'. Do I have to say anything else?"

"…No…I guess not…" said Junpei hesitantly.

"Good, 'cause I'm not gonna. Your turn Ennea."

Nona's sister stepped forward.

"I'm Ennea, and let's just say that I'm number '1' in more ways than that particular number. This is my second time putting up with this Nonary Game crap. So… now we're all just waiting for you pretty boy."

The boy with the long brown hair looked offended for a moment, but then he sighed and just spoke.

"My name's Geoffrey. This is also my second time at this, and I'm absolutely sure that this is _not_ my favorite game. Anyway, I am uhh…number '7'.

"Okay, that's everyone?" asked Junpei. There were nods from everyone except for Akane.

"I think that we missed someone," she said softly pointing towards the stairs. There, sitting at the landing was a figure in a thin white robe. No one in the group could see the person's face as his or her back was turned to the rest of them and the hood of the robe was up. Slowly, Clover walked over to the person and tapped them on the shoulder.

"Hey, what's your name? You _are_ coming with us right?"

"Leave me to be in peace," the figure said softly. The voice was distinctly female, and she had a heavy Middle Eastern accent.

The woman turned around so that she was still half sitting on the stairs and removed her hood revealing a relatively young face, framed by black hair fitted with numerous beads and other ornaments. Her robe covered her whole body except for her face. It had baggy sleeves, and the hood rested in a pile behind her head.

"C'mon, we just wanna know who you are," insisted Clover.

"You wouldn't know me. What does it matter?"

Clover looked dumbstruck and she seemed to bristle with sudden indignation.

"It matters because we all wanna get the hell outta here! Junpei! What are the numbers of everyone we counted?"

"Well…the only person we don't have is number '9', so I'm guessing—"

Clover didn't wait for Junpei to finish before grabbing the robed woman's right arm and pulling her sleeve up. Sure enough, there was a numbered bracelet that read '9' on her wrist.

"So, you're number '9'?" demanded Clover, "then you _have_ to come with us because you're pretty much the most valuable number here! You can go into any _room_ you want with any_one_ you want because '9' never changes the digital root.

"I told you to let me be alone," said the woman. She was a bit more forceful this time, though she was still soft-spoken.

"Why do you want to be alone so much anyway?" asked Junpei, his tone curious.

"If you must know, I am grieving for a momentous loss," she said. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"What happened?" asked Clover, "Did you lose someone important to you?"

The woman stood up and this time her voice truly rose in volume and hostility, "Everyone in my entire civilization is dead! Have I satisfied you in your need to question me!" her tone was demanding and her eyes burned furiously as she stared into Clover's.

"I…don't think I've heard of any widespread disasters or genocides in the past several years though," mumbled Junpei, "Where do you come from?"

The woman huffed and glared at him for a moment before a look of defeat spread across her face.

"My name is Iaret, I come from Egypt where I was a priestess to the goddess Amun-Ra.

"Wait a minute…I know you. Clover, you should also recognize her. I don't know why I didn't see it before! You're that woman that we found hitchhiking out of the Nevada Desert nine months ago!"

"If by that you mean I was looking to find a ride in one of those mechanical vehicles so that I could get to the nearest village, then yes, that was I. What I found terrified me! The urban town to which you brought me was full of foreign objects and things that I had never seen before: Buildings that went into the sky! Rooms with lanterns on the ceiling that would light at the touch of a tiny lever! Nothing in this world you live in makes any sense! I—"

"Stop!" Akane interrupted her rant, "What did you say you were?"

"A priestess…is that so strange—"

"A priestess to whom?"

"Amun-Ra…"

Akane's eyes widened and her mouth hung open ever so slightly, but she regained her composure quickly enough that no one could have noticed her shock. "Hmm, I see…" she responded slowly.

"But nobody's worshiped Amun-Ra in thousands of years…" Akane mumbled to herself, "Who is she?"

"Look," suggested Junpei, "I want to find out more about…Iaret too, but let's give her some time to cool down and we can take another quick look around here."

"Fine by me," said Aoi aloofly.

"Okay," the sisters agreed in unison.

Geoffrey just nodded.

"I'll be content to wait here while Clover goes ahead," said Light, "I wouldn't be of very much use trying to look at anything now would I?"

Clover rolled her eyes at her brother, who surprised everyone the moment after her eyes came to a stop.

"Clover, you know that's rude; don't roll your eyes."

"How does he do that?" asked Junpei.

"Not telling," giggled Clover jovially, "That secret is for me and my brother to know and you to pace the floor over."

"Yeah, let's get going," said Junpei. That quick exchange never happened after all. He didn't need to feel awkward about it.

Junpei stuck close to Aoi and Akane as they scoured the three ballrooms for anything that might help them later on. It was about half an hour before they eventually met back up with the group. They didn't have very much to go on, but they did have something; between the eight of them they had found four more doors, all locked, but with strange symbols on them: A set of double doors at the back of the hall on the second floor had a simple castle emblem engraved on them. There was a door on the top floor as well, and was most notable for possessing the only symbol that any of them recognized above its keyhole; the planetary symbol of Earth. On the first floor there was a door in the otherwise solid bottom set of stairs. It was emblazoned with what appeared to be an eye, but it was blurry, as though it were being viewed from within a veil of thick fog. Last there was a door close to the gramophone on the second floor that was connected to a card reader that had a simple mountain depicted on it. Not having any of the keys on hand, and without the first clue as to what the symbols might mean, they decided it was time to go through the numbered doors, which was just as well, seeing as Iaret seemed to have stopped moping and was now standing by the door labeled '2'.

"So, we should split into three groups of three," ordered Junpei, "That's the only way for us to all progress while also covering the most ground. Now for the hard part: Who's going through which door?"

As Junpei said this, Nona seemed to nonchalantly take a step closer to Ennea. Clover simultaneously got a tight grip on Light's arm.

"We have three choices; '2', '3' and '4', so what'll it be guys?" Junpei asked again. Light was the first to speak:

"I think I will go through door number '4'."

"Then I'm going with you!"

He had barely finished speaking before Clover had interjected.

"Clover, Junpei happens to be right here so you don't have to shout," he observed, "And there's no need to be so hasty either."

"Ya think so, huh?" Clover demanded, "Well I happen to remember _exactly_ what happened the last time we split up!" she was practically in tears.

"Okay!" Junpei interrupted being as sensitive as it was possible to be without being polite, "We've got our first choices! Geoffrey, your name was? You're going with them. You're the only one who can go with them to get the right digital root."

"Huh? Lucky for me then," Geoffrey said with a grin, "I was hoping to go through '4' anyway."

"I'm sticking with my sister," Nona declared forcefully. Junpei didn't complain. It wasn't because she was glaring daggers at him either; more because she was glaring full-length broadswords at him. She was daring him to disagree. So he could let them stay together, or he could split them up. Junpei chose the option that gave him a more likely chance of keeping his balls _attached_ to his body. As opposed to otherwise.

Aoi spoke up.

"Guess that means I'm going with them to do door number '3'," he said passively, "good. I wanted to keep an eye on the newbies anyway."

This comment was followed up by a high-pitched squeal as Ennea smashed her knee into his crotch.

"Fucking pervert."

"_What?_" he shrieked, "What do you even _mean_ by that? _What__the__hell__was__that__for?_"

"Eyes on them, Aoi, _your__eyes_ on _them_," Akane explained simply while holding back a giggle. Aoi just groaned and continued clutching his groin on the floor.

"That just leaves the three of us I guess," said Junpei, gesturing at Akane and Iaret.

"Praise be to Ra," Iaret sighed in relief, "I was worried that I might have been needed to be grouped with those lunatics going through the '3'rd door."

"I don't think that would have worked for any of these doors though…" Akane mumbled in a sad tone.

"Okay then!" Junpei announced, "We've got our three groups: Clover, Light and Geoffrey will be taking door '4', Aoi, Nona and Ennea'll be going through door number '3', and I'll be joining Akane and Iaret in door '2'." Are we ready to go and do we all understand the rules?" He got nods and various words of agreement in response.

"All right then! Let's get going!" he and Akane verified with the RED on the wall next to door number '2' and Iaret hesitantly followed their example. Junpei pulled the lever on the side of the RED. The heavy metal doors swung open with an ominous groan. If this was going to be anything like the last Nonary Game those doors would close in nine seconds. He didn't waste time; he looked at Akane, nodded, and took hold of Iaret by her wrist, leading her through the soon-to-be-closed doors, Akane following close behind. They passed the threshold into another hallway. They were immediately greeted by a cold beeping sound coming from their numbered bracelets. Junpei raised his right arm, and sure enough his bracelet now displayed a flashing red skull overtop the number '5'.

They had eighty-one seconds to find the DEAD.

Eighty-one seconds left to live.


End file.
